California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner took the initiative in 2009 to compel insurance companies doing business in his state to limit their investments in companies that do business with the nuclear, energy and defense sectors of the Iranian economy.
Read More OAL: CA Insurance Commissioner Improperly Restricted Insurers With Iran Investments
Coverage & Claims
Reinsurer’s Abstention Motion Denied: Later-Filed Federal Court Action is Held to be Proper Forum for Multi-Contract Reinsurance Dispute
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Defendant, Clearwater Insurance Company, f/k/a Skandia America Reinsurance Corporation (“Clearwater”), filed suit against Seaton Insurance Company and Stonewall Insurance Company (“Plaintiffs”) in Connecticut Superior Court, arguing that there was no coverage under certain reinsurance agreements for Plaintiffs’ asbestos claims. Plaintiffs subsequently commenced a declaratory judgment action in Rhode Island federal court concerning the parties’ respective rights and obligations under the same reinsurance agreements, as well as eleven other contracts. …
Read More Reinsurer’s Abstention Motion Denied: Later-Filed Federal Court Action is Held to be Proper Forum for Multi-Contract Reinsurance Dispute
New Hampshire Supreme Court Rules That Damage To The Insured’s Work Is Not a Covered “Occurrence”
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Coverage & Claims, United States
Clarifying its prior decision in High Country Assocs. v. New Hampshire Ins. Co., 139 N.H. 39 (1994), the Supreme Court of New Hampshire recently held that a CGL policy’s insuring agreement does not encompass damage to the insured’s work product. See Concord Gen. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Green & Co. Bdg. & Dev. Corp., No. 2009-699 (N.H. Sept. 17, 2010). …
Read More New Hampshire Supreme Court Rules That Damage To The Insured’s Work Is Not a Covered “Occurrence”
FEATURED POST: ARS Derivative Suits Will Need To Overcome Business Judgment Rule
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Coverage & Claims, Illinois Developments
In the past few months, several derivative suits against mutual fund issuers of auction rate securities (ARS) have hit the courts. …
Read More FEATURED POST: ARS Derivative Suits Will Need To Overcome Business Judgment Rule
UK: Insurer Entitled to Avoid Policy From Inception Under Fraudulent Claims Clause
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Coverage & Claims, United Kingdom
In the recent case of Joseph Fielding Properties (Blackpool) Ltd v Aviva Insurance Ltd (2010) EWHC 2192 (QB) the High Court was asked to consider whether an insurer was entitled to avoid a policy from inception relying on previous fraudulent and exaggerated claims, and misrepresentations and non-disclosures made by the claimant (‘JFP’). …
Read More UK: Insurer Entitled to Avoid Policy From Inception Under Fraudulent Claims Clause
Florida Federal Court Judge Sends Insurer’s Chinese Drywall Suit to New Orleans MDL
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
On September 22, 2010, a U.S. District Court Judge in the Middle District of Florida transferred an insurer’s Chinese Drywall coverage case to the District Court in New Orleans, where Multi-District Chinese Drywall Litigation is pending. …
Read More Florida Federal Court Judge Sends Insurer’s Chinese Drywall Suit to New Orleans MDL
UK: Guernsey Sets Record Payout in Motor Claim
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Coverage & Claims, United Kingdom
In a recent case, Helmot v Simon (Guernsey Unreported Judgment, 14 September 2010), the Guernsey Court of Appeal provided a UK record for the highest personal injury compensation payment, with the claimant receiving £13.7 million in compensation for personal injuries caused by a road traffic accident. Liability was admitted by the defendant and therefore the court was only concerned with the level of compensation to be awarded to the claimant. …
Read More UK: Guernsey Sets Record Payout in Motor Claim
New York State Insurance Department Seeks To Change Homeowners’ Coverage
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
New York’s Superintendent of Insurance, James J. Wrynn, has proposed several key initiatives in an attempt to ensure homeowners insurance is available to all consumers. For a complete copy of Superintendent Wrynn’s press release, please click here. …
Read More New York State Insurance Department Seeks To Change Homeowners’ Coverage
The BP Disaster: The Flood of Oil has Stopped, Insurance Claims have Just Begun
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
(This post is an excerpt from the full article here, originally published by Bloomberg Finance L.P. in the Vol. 4, No. 9 edition of the Bloomberg Law Reports—Insurance Law. Reprinted with permission.)
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The BP disaster (also referred to as the Deepwater Horizon disaster or the Macondo blowout) in the Gulf of Mexico is now considered to be the largest accidental oil spill in history. On April 20, 2010, an explosion and resulting fire at the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible oil drilling platform, the cause of which is still uncertain as investigations continue, killed 11 platform workers and injured 17 others out of the 126 crew members on board the platform at the time. …
Read More The BP Disaster: The Flood of Oil has Stopped, Insurance Claims have Just Begun
UK: Court Considers the Appropriate Forum for Lloyd’s Slip Policy Dispute
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Coverage & Claims, United Kingdom
In the recent case of Stonebridge Underwriting Limited v Ontario Municipal Insurance Exchange [2010] EWHC 2279, Mr Justice Christopher Clarke considered whether a dispute based on a “typical London market slip policy” should be heard in London or Ontario, Canada. The policy in question was an excess of loss policy under which Stonebridge Underwriting Limited (on behalf of the members of Syndicate 990) reinsured the Ontario Municipal Insurance Exchange (OMEX). …
Read More UK: Court Considers the Appropriate Forum for Lloyd’s Slip Policy Dispute